FEDERAL WAY, Wash. – For the second consecutive year the UC Santa Barbara men’s swimming and diving team placed 7th in the Pac-12 Championships just ahead of rival Cal Poly.
UC Berkeley took 1st place for the second year in a row with 786 total team points. The Gauchos conclude the championship meet with 178.5 points.
Day fours events began with sophomore Armen Darbinyan swimming a 15:34.87 in the 1650 yard freestyle, earning the Gauchos a point in the event. In the ‘C’ final of the 200 yard backstroke senior Randy Aakhus swam a personal best time of 1:46.40.
Senior Ryan Hanni concluded his career in the Pac-12 with a lifetime best time of 43.58 in the final of the 100 yard freestyle. In the final of the 200 yard butterfly, sophomore Mickey Mowry swam a 1:44.61 which is good for NCAA consideration. Sophomore Andy Castilleja swam a 1:58.72, good for 15th place and NCAA consideration, in the final of the 200 yard breaststroke.
The final event of the meet concluded with a 4th place finish in the finals of the 400 yard freestyle relay (2:54.54) by the team of Wade Allen, Chase Lemley, Lucas Norman, and Hanni.
Freshman Lester Wright was the lone diving representative for the Gauchos last week at the diving portion of the Pac-12 Championships. Wright placed 15th in the 1 meter with a final score of 255, 16th in the 3 meter with a score of 288.70, and 11th in the platform with a score of 257.05.
On Day Two of the Pac-12 Championships, in the preliminaries of the 50 yard freestyle, junior Wade Allen set a school record with a time of 19.45. In the finals of the 50 yard freestyle, Allen came in 8th place with a time of 19.64.
NCAA Championships take place in Austin, TX on March 27th.
